Isner Notches First Win of 2019, Reaches New York Open Quarterfinals

Feb 14, 2019

| By Brian Coleman

Photo Credit: Sidney Beal III/Clique Photography

John Isner had gone three months since his last victory on the ATP Tour.

But that changed on Wednesday night as the top-seeded American advanced to the New York Open quarterfinals with a 7-6(7), 6-4 victory over Australia’s Bernard Tomic inside NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“It’s been awhile since I won a match,” said Isner. “My last win was in the Paris Masters, and then I qualified for London, lost three matches in a row to three pretty good players, and then I go Down Under and don’t win a match. It had been awhile, so this one was very important. And hopefully I’m building towards a lot of better results moving forward.”

While he advanced in straight sets, this win was not as straightforward as the scoreline may indicate. Both players cruised on serve in the first set as neither player faced a break point, forcing the opener into a tiebreaker. After Isner initially jumped ahead, Tomic set up a set point, only to see Isner erase it with back-to-back aces, and then sealed the set on the next point.

The second set played out similar to the first with both Isner and Tomic holding serve rather easily. That would last until the 10th game with Isner leading 5-4 when the first real break opportunity presented itself. Although Isner couldn’t capitalize on his first couple of tries on match point, it only delayed the inevitable, as Isner clinched his first victory since late last year to book his spot in the New York Open’s final eight.

“I knew it was gonna be a close match. This court’s pretty quick, and he serves pretty well. Nothing really separated us, especially in the first set,” said Isner. “I was down a set point and I aced him twice. The I was able to win the set from there. In the second, again nothing separated us, we were both holding serve pretty easily. And then all of a sudden, just like that, I’m up 0-40 at 5-4. I wasted a few opportunities but I was able to eventually win the match. Very happy to win, and not have that second set go to a tiebreaker.”

Isner now moves into a matchup with seventh-seeded Australian Jordan Thompson, who continued his run on Long Island with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 comeback win over American qualifier Chris Eubanks earlier in the day.

Click Here to see the full results from the New York Open on Wednesday.

Brian Coleman

Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com